In loving memory of Barbara Pollock 1956 - 2010 FIGURE HUMAINE Francis Poulenc On behalf of myself and all those involved in Tenebrae this recording is dedicated to a very special and much loved friend, Barbara Pollock, without whose constant support, energy and enthusiasm Tenebrae would simply not exist. Anyone involved with the choir over these last ten years will know what a Mass in G remarkable lady Barbara was, combining so many 1 Kyrie [3.25] wonderful qualities – extraordinary generosity, 2 Gloria [4.09] intelligence, charm and beauty – that one can 3 Sanctus [2.26] only feel truly privileged to have known her. 4 Benedictus [3.46] 5 Agnus Dei [4.56] In fighting breast cancer for several years she also Soloist: Natalie Clifton-Griffith, soprano showed what incredible inner strength, determination and courage she had and will always serve as an 6 Litanies á la Vierge Noire [8.19] inspiration to me both personally and in my work with Tenebrae. She was so proud of the choir and 7 loved nothing more than to sit and listen to us sing. Salve Regina [4.23] We were proud of her too! We give thanks for such Un Soir de Neige a wonderful lady to whom we owe so much but take 8 De grandes cuillers de neige [1.09] comfort in knowing she is now finally at peace. 9 La bonne neige le ciel noir [1.37] 0 Bois meurtri [2.12] She will be sorely missed by us all. q La nuit le froid la solitude [1.05] Nigel - 2 - Figure Humaine, and the Awakening of music fifty years from now it will be more in the Francis Poulenc Stabat Mater than in the Mouvements Perpétuels”. Figure Humaine w I. Bientôt [2.45] “With a courtyard in front, pink with oleanders in A gradual reawakening of Poulenc’s dormant e II. Le Rôle des Femmes [2.05] tubs, next to a simple chapel hollowed into the rock, Catholicism (handed down by his father but r III. Aussi bas que le silence [1.34] shelters a miraculous figure of the Virgin, carved, neglected in the Parisian social whirl of the 1920s) t IV. Patience [1.58] according to tradition, in black wood by Saint was suddenly intensified after one of his closest y V. Premiere Marche la voix d’un autre [1.00] Amadour, the little Zacchaeus of the gospel who friends, the composer Pierre-Octave Ferroud, u VI. Un Loup [1.42] had to climb a tree to see the Christ. That same was killed in a road accident in 1936. Poulenc i VII. Un feu sans tache [3.49] evening I began my Litanies á la Vierge Noire ...” was devastated, the more so after the gruesome o VIII. Liberté [4.30] details of the accident were disclosed (Ferroud was Francis Poulenc is now considered to be among the apparently decapitated), and he travelled to the most important composers of choral music of the great Catholic pilgrimage site of Rocamadour in Quatre petites prières de Saint François d’Assise 20th Century. Yet his early career reveals no trace the Pyrenées in search of consolation. At the foot p Salut, Dame Sainte [2.10] of the dazzling and idiosyncratic unaccompanied of the famous statue of the black virgin he found a Tout Puissant [1.15] choral textures so abundantly produced in the it, and from this point embarked on a decade-long s Seigneur, je vous en prie [1.21] second half of his life. Poulenc’s Parisian period of almost exclusive choral and vocal d O mes très chers frères [1.55] forebears were often reluctant choralists, and his writing. Appropriately given the source of his contemporaries in the modernist world were inspiration, this period began with the Litanies Total Timings [63.33] disinclined to explore an antiquated and even á la Vierge Noire (1936) originally composed for discredited form associated most recently with female voices and organ and later adapted for the German Romantics. Up until 1936, Poulenc female voices and orchestra, and followed soon wrote only one piece of choral music, and even after with his first works for full SATB chorus – that is a slight and whimsical offering for male the Sept Chansons, and the Mass in G (1937), voices – the Chanson á Boire of 1922. Yet by the composed in memory of his father now 20 years TENEBRAE end of his life Poulenc had so fully embraced the deceased, but exerting renewed spiritual influence NIGEL SHORT DIRECTOR idiom that he felt able to assert: “I think I’ve put over his son. Here we experience for the first time the best and most genuine part of myself into my that fusion of playfulness and devotion which choral music ... If people are still interested in my characterizes Poulenc’s sacred music. Listening www.signumrecords.com - 5 - to the juxtaposition of the comically marcato bass received the works of Eluard under plain cover influence over his conscience, he visited terrible struggle which Europe was engaged in for part in the “qui tollis peccata mundi” section of during the Second World War, including the Rocamadour again before beginning work on Liberté. Even though it is only 20 minutes in length, the Gloria, alongside the chant-like three-part collection Poésie et Verité 42. One of the poems the piece (even though the subject matter is the work is a supreme test of stamina, technical setting of “qui sedes ad dexteram patris” which from this collection, Liberté, was dropped in earthly, he saw Figure Humaine as the fulfillment agility, range, aural skill and musicianship. immediately follows, it is hard to imagine the leaflet form over occupied France by the British of a sacred duty as well as a patriotic Poulenc maintains a basic antiphonal structure composer writing without a little smirk on his face. Royal Air Force so as to boost morale among one). His initial plan was for the work to be in each of the movements, juxtaposing the two the civilian population and within the French clandestinely rehearsed and premiered on the choirs in virtuosic ways (at various times Poulenc’s awakening to choral music (and to Resistance. Poulenc was so captivated by this day of liberation in Paris. However, Parisian suggesting argument, distance, amplification Catholicism) naturally brought with it new particular volume, and so intent on setting it to liberation came quicker (in 1944) than he had etc) and bringing them together at moments of explorations in the world of sacred and secular music right away, that he abandoned (and never been expecting, so after the score was complete he particular textual significance. Poulenc’s rigid literature and poetry. For his sacred music, he revisited) the violin concerto he was working on, gave agreement for a first performance to be belief in the primacy of text is apparent was drawn to poetic non-biblical texts (the words and instead set about composing his great choral given by the BBC Singers in London (in an English throughout, as amongst all the complications of St Francis inspired his setting for mens’ voices cantata Figure Humaine in 1943. translation) after the BBC expressed great interest of the score there is not a single moment where of the Quatre petits prières de Saint François in the unpublished score. Naturally Poulenc still the lines of text risk being clouded by excessive d’Assise in 1948), as well as liturgical texts which Poulenc’s social and creative circle was destroyed wanted to make some sort of symbolic gesture polyphonic writing. Even in the fugal sections reflected his continued devotion to the statue of by the war. The status of Paris as the cultural with his work to mark the day when the Nazis were he is careful to repeat lines of text a sufficient the black virgin, as with the marian motet Salve capital of the world had been rudely revoked, driven out of Paris, so as he wrote in a letter to number of times to ensure their absorption. Regina (1941). Amongst the secular French so Poulenc retreated to his country residence the singer Pierre Bernac: “The day the Americans poets, Poulenc explored Charles d’Orléans, and at Noizay. He grew paranoid about what was arrived, I triumphantly placed my cantata on the The first seven poems are clearly intended to the naturalist works of Maurice Fombeure, but he happening to Paris in his absence, and fell studio desk, beneath my flag, at the window”. form a sequence, capped by a longer epilogue found most inspiration in the surrealist works of victim to every rumour going. In his search to find (the eighth). The overarching dramatic thread contemporary writers Guillaume Apollinaire and a good creative outlet for his feelings, these years The eight movements of Figure Humaine are scored seems to be one of gathering madness, brought Paul Eluard, discovering that their synthesis of became fruitful ones for composition. He revealed for double SMATBB choir, with frequent divisi, about by the combination of long-suffered levity and profundity matched his compositional something of his motives in a letter sent after so that up to 14 parts are often heard. Poulenc oppression and long-desired liberty. In common style perfectly. Sadly, Apollinaire died too young the armistice: “When I think that Noizay is so himself recommended a large choir of 84 for the with many of his choral works, Poulenc juxtaposes to have a meaningful influence on Poulenc completely untouched I almost feel ashamed. premiere, with seven singers to a part. In a large mood to great effect, placing the most furiously during his lifetime, but with Eluard the relationship I trust that Figure Humaine will be a sufficient body of frequently very difficult choral works, it agitated sections next to the most becalmed, was more organic, and yielded much more choral tribute from a Frenchman”.